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It took three days for Galen and his Pokémon to reach Oreburgh City, but outside of a few relatively easy battles against some other trainers along the way it was an uneventful trip to the coal mining city. Arriving shortly after dark on the third day after leaving Jubilife, Galen and his Pokémon settled into the city's Pokémon Center for the night, fully intending to head to the Oreburgh Gym the next day.

Galen was out the door of the Pokémon Center first thing in the morning heading straight for the Gym with Luxor hot on his heels. When he arrived at the brown roofed building Galen felt as though someone had dropped a stone in the pit of his stomach. On the door was a simple sign that read 'Gym temporarily closed due to cave in at mine -Roark, Oreburgh Gym Leader'.

Galen stared at the sign, at a loss for words. When he finally found his voice he said, "I can't believe this! All the way here, and the Gym is closed? What does a cave in even have to do with the gym anyway?"

Galen sighed, sitting cross legged on the ground. Luxor sat in front of him, looking at him with an inquisitive expression. "Shinx?"

Galen shook his head. "I don't know. We can't just wait here. Who knows when it'll be open again. But maybe...I don't know what good it would do, but at the very least we could go check out the mine. Maybe we could help out, and speed things up. At the very least we would get an idea of how long we'll have to wait, right?"

Luxor seemed less than pleased by the idea of the mine, but nodded in agreement anyway. Galen smiled as he stood back up, brushing the dust from his pants. "Well that's that then. Let's go."

Galen made his way first back to the Pokémon Center and-after getting directions from Nurse Joy-headed off for the mine. It was at the southernmost point in the city, and from what Galen could tell upon arrival, was a very extensive operation. Everywhere he looked there were all kinds of equipment, drilling machines and conveyor belts carrying raw coal out of the mine to be processed. There were also a proliferous amount of people and Pokémon working all around, mostly Fighting-types like Machop and its evolved forms Machoke and Machamp, but there were others here and there as well.

It also appeared as though most if not all present were in a state of low grade panic, most likely due to the cave in. Galen hadn't made it very far into the area outside the mine when he found himself being stopped by a rather tense man who seemed to out of patience in every sense. "Hold it right there! What the hell is some kid doin' in this area? Don't you know it's dangerous around here? Not to mention we have to deal with movin' all the extra rubble and tryin' to reinforce the cave walls so this doesn't happen again! So I ask, what do you think you're doin' here?"

Galen felt like giving some sort of indignant response after that tirade, but decided it would be counterproductive, so instead he said, "I went to challenge the Gym, but saw it was closed because of what's going on around here. So, I just figured I would come see what's up, and maybe lend a hand if it'll help speed things along."

The man sighed, rubbing his temples. "Look I...I don't have time for this. If you wanna help, or find out what the deal is with the Gym, you gotta talk to Roark."

The man pointed to a smallish tent off to one side of the mining area. "You can find him in there. He's a kinda young guy with reddish hair. Now if there's nothin' else, I gotta get back to doin' my job."

Without another word the man walked off in a huff, causing Galen to-once he was out of earshot-look down to Luxor and say, "Well he wasn't very pleasant. Let's hope this Roark is a bit more...well patient."

As directed by the man, Galen quickly made his way over to the tent, pushing past the flap to the inside. Inside were a handful of men gathered around a table, which seemed to be covered with a map of the mine. On of the men-easily the youngest of them-was speaking, clearly commanding the attention of all the others present. "...and we'll need to reinforce the walls here and here."

He pointed to two spots on the sheet before he continued. "And try to pick up the pace of the debris removal. We need to get it out of there so we can asses the full damage to the area. Alright, that's it for now. You all have your assignments, so get to it."

Most of the men filed out, leaving just Galen and the man he presumed was Roark. Galen waited a moment, and when he seemed to go unnoticed he cleared his throat to make himself known. Roark looked up from the maps in surprise, apparently having been so focused on his work that even the presence of another person startled him. "And who might you be? You don't look like one of the mine workers."

Galen nodded. "I'm not. My name is Galen, and I came to Oreburgh to challenge the Gym...but well came here when I saw it was closed. I figured I could find out what was going on and help if you need it."

"Ah. I see. I'm guessing one of the other workers directed you to me, yes?"

"Yeah, and he wasn't very pleasant about it either."

Roark chuckled. "Well, we're all a little on edge right now. Cave ins are really rare here, so its always a bit unsettling when ever one does occur. We were just lucky that no one was harmed in the incident. It's all just clean up now, but that can be rather time consuming. At a guess, I would say it'll be at least a week before this place is back to where it can run without me. Unfortunately for trainers who come here for a Gym challenge, my duties here often take precedence over battling, especially when things like this happen."

Galen sighed. "Well, I guess it's good that no one was hurt. I don't much like the thought of waiting around for a week, but I don't really have much choice in the matter."

"I really am sorry. If I were able to do so I would have this place fixed up with a snap of my fingers, but its just not that easy."

Galen nodded. "I understand. Is there anything I can do to help out? I don't have anything better to do for the next week, apparently."

Roark looked him over a few times, then said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't exactly look strong enough to deal with the kind of work we do around here. Also, unless your other Pokémon are more impressive than that Shinx at your heels, they probably won't be much help either."

Though he hated to admit it, Galen knew that Roark was right. He wasn't suited to labouring in a mine, and he certainly wasn't carrying a Machoke or a Lucario around with him. Putting on his best diplomatic smile, Galen sighed and said, "Well, if you change your mind, you can find me at the Pokémon Center."

Roark nodded. "I'll be sure to let you know as soon as the Gym is opened-"

Roark stopped cold as the ground began to shake, loosening dust and dirt that clung to the tent's insides, bringing it down upon them. Then there came the sounds of shouting from the men outside, as well as a loud, deep, groaning roar. Galen and Roark exchanged a glance, then both rushed outside the tent. The sight that met them was chaotic to say the least.

There was dust and debris everywhere, and workmen were struggling to get to safety. The ground was torn up and the steel girder structures around the outside of the mine were falling apart. At the centre of it all was a Steelix, the source of the roar, rampaging without any apparent cause, and lashing out at any who dared to get too close.

Galen could scarcely believe what he was seeing. "What the hell is a Steelix doing here?"

Roark shook his head. "I have no clue, honestly. We sometimes get Onix around here, but they never cause this kind of destruction. Maybe...we did just open a new tunnel recently, one that goes deeper into the ground. It's possible our work disturbed the Steelix in some way."

"Well whatever cause it, its pissed! We need to get everyone out of here."

Roark nodded. "You're right. Everyone can get out of here easily enough under normal circumstances, but we need to distract that Steelix for a bit. And I think I know how."

Roark pulled out a Pokéball, releasing the Pokémon within and calling out, "Cranidos use Rock Tomb!"

A small grey and blue dinosaur like Pokémon appeared, and did as commanded, causing a number of mid-sized rocks to fall upon the rampaging Steel-Rock Type. The Steelix was certainly distracted by the onslaught, resulting in it seemingly becoming even more infuriated. Fixing its attention on Cranidos, Steelix lashed out with its tail, the appendage glowing with energy as the steely snake used Iron Tail.

The attack hit Cranidos with full force, sending the little Rock-Type flying straight into Roark, knocking both to the ground. Seeing the situation become suddenly more urgent, Galen pulled his Pokéballs from his belt, releasing his Pokémon. "Fireball, Star, you're on!"

The Chimchar and Starly both appeared in a flash, and both looked rather concerned by the situation they had been brought into. Seeing their concern, Galen said, "I know it looks bad, but we need to do this to help, or people will get hurt. We have to do all we can to keep that Steelix distracted."

None seemed happy about it, but all three of his Pokémon nodded compliantly. Galen smiled. "Good, now Star, grab Lux and fly him up to that Steelix! Hit it with whatever seems to do the most! Fireball, Ember!"

The three did as commanded, Star-with noticeable effort-picked up Luxor and flew toward the rampaging Steelix as fast as they could, Fireball laying down a spray of glowing cinders, which seemed to be little more than a thorn in the Steelix's side.

It did however take notice of the two Pokémon entering the air space around its head. It once again lashed out with Iron Tail, intent on knocking Star and Luxor out of the sky. Its glowing steel tail spike whipped through the air toward Galen's Pokémon almost too fast to see. Luckily for Star, her vision was sharp enough to see the high speed strike coming, and she managed to dodge the majority of the attack, taking only a glancing blow from the tip of the Steelix's tail.

Even that though was enough to knock Star and Luxor out of the sky. It was sheer luck that they were sent in Galen's general direction, allowing him just enough time to get under them, pulling them in close as he caught them, trying to shelter them from more damage. As quick as he could he put both into their Pokéballs, leaving Fireball alone against the Steelix.

Galen returned his attention to the fighting, hoping that some solution would present itself. Sadly, nothing came to him but to simply work with brute force, as it was the only thing at his disposal. However, before he could so much as utter an attack command, the Steelix's tail lashed out toward Fireball. As opposed to using Iron Tail this time though, the Steelix used what appeared to be Bind, coiling its tail around Fireball and squeezing to cause the Chimchar pain.

Galen's eyes went wide in terror. There was nothing he could do to protect Fireball at this point. He couldn't even see Fireball, obscured as the Fire-Type was by the Steelix's tail. Near as he could tell, he was out of options. Then, the glow started.

From within the coils of the Steel-Type's tail there began to come a white hot light, growing more intense by the second. After a moment the glow faded, and from the place where Fireball was being held Galen heard an enraged cry. A moment later flames erupted from the spaces in Steelix's Bind, causing it to drop Fireball in surprise and pain.

From within the Bind there came a whirling wheel of fire, dropping to the ground and rolling rapidly to stop in front of Galen. The flames faded and standing before him was not a Chimchar, but a Monferno. Galen starred open mouthed at the sight. "Fireball...you..."

Fireball nodded with a confidence befitting of his new form. He now stood taller, and he had grown a long, thin tail, which was tipped with the flame that had once been the entirety of his tail, and now burned more intensely than before. His fur had also become a darker shade, and his eyes had a blue ridge above them. Galen did a quick scan with his Pokédex while the Steelix was still immobilised by surprise, quickly absorbing Fireball's new move set. Flame Wheel, Ember, Scratch...and Mach Punch.

That last one made Galen smile ever so slightly. Turning back to the Steelix, Galen simply smiled a bit wider. Now they could win. Pointing at their opponent, Galen called out, "Alright Fireball, Mach Punch!"

Following the command, Fireball leapt toward the Steelix, one of his fists glowing with energy. The Steelix turned to face the oncoming attack, but was unable to move fast enough to dodge the lightning quick strike, resulting in the Steelix recoiling from a full force Mach Punch hitting it square in the jaw. Back flipping away from the point of impact, Fireball came to land a few feet in front of Galen as the Steelix's entire body moved with the momentum of Fireball's attack, its head flying back and knocking into one of the piles of girders that lay in scattered locations around the mine area.

The Steelix began to rise, its face painted with an odd mixture of pain, surprise, and anger. It turned and roared at Galen and Fireball, the former throwing up a hand in front of his face as the very force of the Steelix's voice kicked up dust. Galen thought that perhaps it was using Screech. Squinting past his own arm, Galen called out, "Fireball, we gotta finish this now! Hit it with Flame Wheel!"

Ignoring the vocal assault of the enraged Steel-Type, Fireball took a running start at the Steelix, curled his body as he moved, and with some help from the flame on his tail Fireball ignited his body, setting himself on a collision course with the Steelix. Blinded by its own rage, the snake like Pokémon didn't see the attack coming until it was too late, and Fireball collided with what was roughly the centre of the Steelix's body, imparting all of his kinetic and thermal energy into the point of impact.

The Steelix was sent reeling back from the attack, landing on its back, unconscious, as Fireball once again flipped away from his foe, landing just a few feet out in front of Galen. They both stood there, silent for a few moments, waiting to be sure that the Steelix was staying down. When it showed no signs of consciousness, the dared to relax, and Galen took a moment to truly appreciate the change his Pokémon had gone through. He smiled suddenly as he realised that Fireball's evolution would make the fight against the Oreburgh Gym much easier.

It was the thought of challenging the Gym that sparked Galen's memory, making him realise that near as he knew, Roark could be injured. Quickly returning Fireball to his Pokéball, Galen rushed over to where Roark lay on the ground, his Cranidos splayed out on top of him. Kneeling beside the pair of them, Galen gently nudged Roark, testing to see if he was conscious. Roark groaned in response, prompting Galen to ask, "Are you alright?"

Roar gently moved his Cranidos off him as he pushed himself into a sitting position. Reaching a hand under his hard hat he rubbed the back of his head and nodded. "Yeah, but I'm concerned about Cranidos. He got hit a lot harder than I did. What happened to the Steelix?"

"My Pokémon and I dealt with it. It's knocked out cold."

Roark blinked in surprise. "But...you're just a novice trainer. How did you beat it?"

Galen smiled sheepishly. "Luck really. My Chimchar chose a good moment to evolve into a Monferno."

Still appearing more than a bit surprised, Roark attempted to get to his feet, resulting in falling back on his ass. Galen smirked and reached down, offering the Gym Leader a hand, which Roark gratefully accepted. Grunting from the effort, Galen managed to help pull Roark to his feet, at which point Roark too a moment to take stock of their surroundings. It didn't look good to say the least.

The ground was torn up everywhere, there were steel girders scattered about, and several large pieces of mining equipment appeared to be damaged, with the unconscious Steelix at the centre of it all, like an asteroid at the centre of an impact crater. Roark sighed in frustration. "Great, now I have to get all this put back together as well."

Galen smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, but now you know what the cause behind all this was, so you can move forward without worrying about this Steelix causing more problems...well, assuming you can get it out of here anyway."

Roark nodded. "You're right about that. I should be able to arrange to have it sent to Iron Island. It should be able to stay out of trouble there. Unless you were planning on catching it, of course. You were the one who beat it after all."

Galen looked over the over sized metal snake, considering that. It would certainly be a powerful ally, and a good addition to his team, but at the same time...

Galen shook his head. "Nah. I'm sure it would be great to have around, but it's not really my kind of Pokémon. Besides, a Pokémon like that would mean I would just be able to use brute force to solve everything, and that doesn't suit me well."

Roark shrugged. "Fair enough. Now then, on to the other matter where you're involved. I originally told you it would be about a week before I would be able to re-open the Gym. Unfortunately, this Steelix may very well have set that back a bit. I can make every effort to get everything back in order in a week, but there's a good chance it will take up to two weeks now, with everything we have to repair and clean up."

Galen nodded. "I understand. Take as long as you guys need. I can just spend a while staying at the Pokémon Center."

Roark smiled. "Thank you. For the understanding, and more importantly for the assistance you provided."

Roark extended a hand. Galen returned his smile and happily accepted the Gym Leader's hand shake and gratitude.

***

The days that followed the events at the Oreburgh Mine seemed to pass at a painfully slow pace for Galen. Unlike Jubilife, which was a large lively city, Oreburgh's entire structure was built around the mine, leaving little room for entertainment. After all, he could only be entertained by a visit to the Oreburgh Museum so many times, and there was a limit to how much training his Pokémon could endure.

Finally, on the morning of his twelfth day in the city a message was delivered to the Pokémon Center for him. The Gym was finally open again, and Roark was ready to take his challenge as soon as he was ready.

Galen wasted no time in running through the streets to the Gym with Luxor on his heels, raring to go after such a long wait. Entering through the building's automatic sliding doors, and went straight for the reception desk in the lobby. The woman behind the counter asked him to take a seat in a nearby chair, saying that Roark would be with him shortly. Galen sat as told, fidgeting impatiently. While he waited he spent time going over his plan for the battle ahead.

Even though he had little knowledge of Roark's team of Pokémon, he knew that he specialised in Rock-types, and thus Galen had built his strategy around that. Though in all reality, strategy was a rather loose term, considering Fireball was the only Pokémon he had who had any realistic chance of beating a Rock-type in a straight fight.

After what seemed an eternity-which was in fact only about ten minutes-a door opened on the far side of the room, Roark stepping out into the lobby. He smiled brightly as he caught sight of Galen. "Good, it looks like you got my message. I take it you're ready then?"

Galen stood and walked over to Roark, a confident half smile taking its place on his lips. "About as ready as I'll ever be. So then, where'll we be battling?"

"Follow me." Roark turned and walked back through the door he had entered from, Galen and Luxor following a few feet behind. After a walking through a long hallway they walked out into a large, dark room. After a few silent seconds bright halogen lights began to turn on in every corner, causing Galen to shield his eyes.

When he lowered his arms he was greeted with the sight of an arena that took up the entirety of the room, white paint outlining a Pokémon League regulation size battle field. The filed itself seemed to be made of dirt and stone, with a few boulders sticking out of the ground here and there-a perfect field for Rock-types, Galen realised.

Roark walked across the field, taking his place at the far end in a small box outline that stuck out from the main field. "Welcome to the Oreburgh Gym! It's here that your challenge will be taken, and you will battle for the right to earn the Pokémon League Gym Badge, the Coal Badge. This will be a three on three match, with a winner only being decided when all three of one trainer's Pokémon are no longer able to battle. As the challenger, you are permitted to change Pokémon during the battle."

Galen nodded, and stepped into the rectangular outline at the opposite end of the battle field from Roark, Luxor standing beside him. "Alright then, I've waited long enough. Let's get going."

Roark nodded. "Just remember, you asked for it. Geodude, come on out!"

Roark tossed a Pokéball out on to the battle field, his Pokémon appearing in a flash of light. Geodude was unimpressive looking, at least to Galen, as it appeared to be little more than a rock with arms and fists. Deciding it would be better not to comment on its appearance-or underestimate it-Galen chose his own Pokémon to start with. "Fireball, you're on!"

The Monferno appeared on the battle field, starring down the Geodude that was to be his opponent. Roark looked the Monferno over briefly before saying, "Alright Galen, the first move is yours."

"Alright then, Mach Punch!"

His fist glowing with power, Fireball darted across the arena, headed straight for Geodude. So fast was the Fire-type's attack that Roark had almost no time to react before the blindingly fast punch made contact, sending Geodude flying through the air to slam against the wall behind Roark, who seemed stricken by the sight. Roark heaved a sigh as he returned the Rock-type to its Pokéball. "You're a lot stronger than I was counting on. Looks like that was all it took to knock out Geodude."

Galen blinked in surprise. He knew Fireball had the advantage in that fight, but that was almost too easy. Roark immediately brought out his next Pokémon, leading both Galen and Fireball to find themselves facing an Onix. Pointing across the battlefield Roark called out, "Use Screech!"

The Onix then threw its head back and let loose a high pitched, blood curdling cry, sending out shockwaves through the arena. Both Fireball and Galen covered their eyes as the force of Onix's voice was enough to kick dust up into the air. While they were still occupied with that, Roark ordered his next attack. "Stealth Rock!"

The Screech ceased and-near as Galen could tell-nothing had happened to indicate any effect of Roark's last command. Drawing confidence from that, Galen ordered Fireball to once again attack with Mach Punch, landing on the Onix with the same devastating effect it had had on Geodude, the only difference being that Onix managed to stagger back up, its snake-like body trembling slightly as it did. Seeming just a bit desperate at that point Roark called out, "Use Rock Throw!"

The Onix slammed its tail into the floor, dislodging a number of shards of the ground like arena surface, which glowed briefly before shooting at Fireball, who managed to evade all but one of them, taking a glancing blow from one of the larger shards. Seeing the Onix preparing to repeat its attack, Galen called out, "Hide behind the boulders!"

Fireball did just that just in time to avoid another Rock Throw from Onix, ducking behind one of the large rocks that were part of the field's terrain. He then began to dash from boulder to boulder, moving whenever Onix was between attacks until finally he was right on top of the Rock-type, at which point Galen ordered another Mach Punch.

With no way to evade such a close range attack, Roark's Onix was hit with the full force of the attack, knocking it out of the fight, and causing it to crash to the ground with a resounding thud and a slight quake of the ground.

Roark looked stunned as he returned Onix to its Pokéball. "I can't believe you've got me down to my last Pokémon. But it doesn't matter. You won't be able to take out my last Pokémon as easily as you did the others. Go, Cranidos!"

The small blue and grey dinosaur-like Rock-type took its place on Roark's end of the battle field. Galen smirked. Bored as he had been for his time in Oreburgh, he had taken the time to do some looking into the one Pokémon of Roark's he had known about, and had a plan in mind just deal with Cranidos. "Fireball, return!"

The Monferno was struck by his Pokéball's red beam of light, returning him to the capsule, much to Roark's surprise. "What's this now? I thought your Monferno was your only Pokémon that could stand against my Rock-types."

Galen nodded. "As far as fighting goes, you're right, but my next Pokémon won't actually be doing any fighting."

Looking down to his side, Galen said, "Go on Lux, take the field."

The Shinx looked at him as though he were insane, causing Galen to roll his eyes. "Don't worry. I have a plan."

Luxor seemed less than thrilled, but stepped out on to the battlefield. The impact of that action was immediate, as Cranidos suddenly seemed to lose its nerve, as though it were scared out the little Electric-type. Unfortunately for Galen and Luxor, another effect was made immediately clear. After only a second or two on the battlefield Luxor was hit by several pointed stones erupting out of the ground to strike him from all sides before sliding back into the ground as though they had never been there. Galen starred open mouthed as he tried to make sense of what he had just seen. "What the hell was that?"

Roark chuckled. "That was Stealth Rock. Now any time that you put a new Pokémon onto the field, they'll be hit by those stones, causing damage before they can even start to fight. But now I have to ask, what was the point of sending out your Shinx in the first place?"

This time it was Galen's turn to chuckle. "Simple really. See, I know that statistically speaking, your Cranidos is a really strong attacker. So, I wanted to find a way to lower that strength. Enter Luxor. A Shinx can have one of two abilities. Rivalry raises their attack. Then there's Intimidate, which lowers the attack strength of my opponent's Pokémon. And Luxor's ability is Intimidate."

"I see...so you wanted Cranidos weakened so that you could try to take him out more easily."

Galen nodded. "Yep. Speaking of which, Lux, you can come back now. Fireball, come on out!"

Fireball took the field once more and-like Luxor before him-was rapidly assaulted by the power of Stealth Rock. Galen smiled ruefully. "Sadly, that Stealth Rock more or less nullifies my plan, as it puts Fireball and your Cranidos on what is once again an even playing field. Still, there's no reason we can't win this."

"You can certainly try! Cranidos, Headbutt!"

Cranidos charged toward Fireball, intent on ramming into the Fire-type, prompting Galen to call out, "Meet it head on with Mach Punch!"

The two combatants collided in the centre of the battlefield, empowered fist meeting rock hard skull. The two pushed each other back and forth for several moments, neither able to gain more than an inch, until finally type advantage won out, and Mach Punch forced its way through Cranidos' own attack, resulting in the fossil Pokémon being knocked back several feet, barely maintaining its balance.

Not wanting to waste a perfect opportunity to finish the battle, Galen called out, "Mach Punch, one more time!"

The Cranidos, still reeling from the first hit was unable to dodge the high speed attack in spite of Roark's telling it to evade the strike. This resulted in the Rock-type again being knocked back, this time collapsing to the ground, unconscious. Roark starred at the sight in utter shock. "W-what? That can't be! I...I lost?"

A grin spread across Galen's face. "We did it. We actually won our first Gym battle."

Roark nodded. "Frankly, it's kind of embarrassing for me. Me and Cranidos losing to a trainer without a single Gym Badge. But, you were stronger than me, so that's the way it goes."

Roark returned Cranidos to its Pokéball, then walked over to an alcove in the wall. From within it he picked up a small case, then carried it over to where Galen and his Pokémon stood. "For your victory over the Oreburgh Gym, I grant you the Coal Badge in my duty as the Gym's Leader. Congratulations."

He handed the case to Galen, which held within it the aforementioned Badge, as well as a disc and an envelope. "What are these?"

"The envelope contains your prize money for beating the Gym. All Gyms give out a small cash prize, primarily because it's the only way for trainers to afford to continue traveling. The disk is a TM, specifically Stealth Rock. None of your current Pokémon can learn it, but it may come in handy for you some day."

"Is that another thing all Gyms do?" Galen asked.

Roark nodded. "Its our way of helping trainers to grow stronger and learn new strategies."

Galen smiled. "Well then thank you, for all of this, and for accepting my challenge."

Roark smiled back. "It's the least I could do after what you did for the Mine. I should warn you though, it only gets tougher from here. I'm relatively new to being a Gym Leader. The others throughout Sinnoh are stronger and more experienced than I am."

For the second time that day a confident half smile formed on Galen's face. "Bring 'em on."

***

After bidding Roark farewell Galen and his Pokémon returned to the Pokémon Center and recovered from the battle. The next day they set out for Eterna City, but upon finding they were unable to head north due to a land slide, Galen and Luxor traced their way back through Oreburgh, setting out west back toward Jubilife, and the long trip ahead to reach the next Gym.